ACfilC. 
LIBRARY 


/c 


REMARKS  OF  D.  F.  HOUSTON 

SECRETARY   OF   AGRICULTURE 


AT 


CONFERENCE  OF 
EDITORS  OF  AGRICULTURAL  JOURNALS 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  NOVEMBER  20,  1918 


35  \ 


AGRIC. 
LIBRARY 


1 1  THE  accompanying  important  statement 
by  Secretary  Houston  on  the  agricultural 
and  food  situation  has  been  prepared  from 
the  Secretary's  remarks  before  a  conference 
of  agricultural  editors  at  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  in  Washington,  November  20. 


REMARKS  OF  D.  F.  HOUSTON 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE 
At  Conference  of  Editors  of  Agricultural  Journals 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  NOVEMBER  20,  1918 


I  greatly  appreciate  your  full  response  to  my  request  and  I  would 
be  untrue  to  myself  if  I  were  not  also  at  this  time,  on  behalf  of  the 
Department  and  the  Government,  to  tell  you  how  much  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  Agricultural  editors  of  the  Union  has  been  valued  by  the 
Department  and  the  Government  and  how  much  it  has  contributed 
to  the  campaigns  for  the  increased  production  of  foods  and  feedstuffs 
and,  therefore,  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  Depart- 
ment has  long  recognized  that  the  farm  papers  are  perhaps  the  most 
effective  printed  mediums  for  reaching  the  millions  of  people  living 
in  the  rural  districts.  We  arrived  at  this  conclusion  a  number  of 
years  ago  after  a  very  careful  survey.  I  know  of  nothing  that  the 
better  agricultural  papers  of  the  Union  have  omitted  to  influence 
thinking  along  right  lines  and  to  further  the  purposes  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

I  had  two  thoughts  in  asking  for  this  conference.  In  the  first  place, 
I  earnestly  desire  your  advice,  suggestions  and  criticisms  as  to  the 
activities  of  the  Department — past,  present,  and  prospective.  There 
is  nothing  which  can  be  shown  to  be  of  value  that  the  Department 
is  not  willing  to  undertake,  within  the  limits  of  its  powers  and  funds, 
to  help  the  agriculture  of  the  Nation.  There  is  nothing  that  it  is  now 
doing  which  it  is  not  willing  to  curtail  or  to  eliminate  if  such  action 
seems  wise.  Of  course,  the  Department  is  not  perfect.  If  it  thought 
it  were  perfect,  it  would  fail  to  do  its  duty  effectively.  For  my  part,  I 
seek  in  my  work  here,  as  I  hope  I  shall  always  do,  to  preserve  an  open 
mind  and  to  receive  every  responsible  suggestion  and  to  give  it  the 
most  earnest  consideration. 

CLEAR  AND  CALM  THINKING  NEEDED. 

In  the  second  place,  I  desire  to  canvass  with  you  the  conditions 
through  which  we  are  now  passing,  to  assess  them  as  fully  as  possible, 
to  see  what  direction  our  further  thinking  should  take,  and  to  unfold 
to  you  our  thoughts  and  plans.  Unquestionably,  there  is  need  of  very 
clear  and  calm  thinking  and  of  discovering  as  fully  as  possible  the 


f)-i,>  i  2G 


.     •  '  •:        :    /.   '"4- 

direction  which  our  forces  and  activities  should  follow.  If  the  whole 
Nation  can  maintain  its  customary  poise  and  view  its  complex  tasks 
in  a  calm  spirit,  much  of  our  difficulty  will  disappear.  In  times  of 
great  change,  of  rapid  world  movements,  no  little  hysteria  naturally 
develops.  One  sitting  at  a  Nation's  capital,  dealing  with  vast  interests, 
is  likely  to  get  the  impression  that  there  is  more  of  it  than  actually 
exists.  This  arises  from  the  fact  that  in  a  democracy,  with  masses  of 
intelligent  people,  there  are  those  who  are  always  on  the  job  of  plan- 
ning and  of  furnishing  suggestions.  This  is  the  strength  of  democracy 
and  it  is  also  one  of  the  difficulties  of  democratic  government.  Many 
proposals  are  made  affecting  every  great  national  interest  and  under- 
taking. In  our  particular  field,  since  food  has  played  such  an  im- 
portant role  in  recent  years,  many  views  are  laid  before  the  public, 
some  of  them  from  responsible  individuals  and  organizations,  some 
of  them  from  those  of  another  sort;  and  alarms  are  sounded.  Not  a 
few  suggestions  of  world  famine  and  of  impossibility  of  supplying  our 
own  and  other  peoples  are  offered.  Apprehensions  are  aroused. 
Waves  of  impressions  and  suggestions  come  into  this  office;  and, 
unless  one  keeps  his  balance,  he  is  especially  likely  to  develop  the 
feeling,  as  I  have  said,  that  all  the  people  are  hysterical.  This,  of 
course,  is  not  true.  The  great  masses  of  our  population  are  not 
greatly  excited.  They  have  maintained  their  steadiness  during  the 
period  of  stress  through  which  we  have  passed  and  they  will  maintain 
it  for  the  future. 

ONLY  THREE  PERIODS  AT  ALL  COMPARABLE. 

It  is  not  singular  that  many  people  should  be  disturbed  and  appre- 
hensive in  times  of  great  change;  and,  therefore,  particularly  at  the 
present  time;  for,  obviously,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest 
changes  the  world  has  witnessed.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  are  only 
three  other  periods  in  the  world's  history  at  all  comparable  with  the 
present  in  point  of  interest  and  in  respect  to  the  nature  and  extent 
of  changes  and  possibilities.  The  first  is  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Greek  civilization.  It  doubtless  appeared  to  the  people  of  the  time 
that  they  were  witnessing  the  collapse,  if  not  the  destruction,  of 
civilization.  The  same,  in  general  terms,  may  be  said  of  the  period 
of  the  decline  and  fall  of  th  e  Roman  Empire.  We  know  now  that  those 
periods  were  not  periods  of  decay,  but  rather  of  the  dispersion  and 
diffusion  of  the  civilized  agencies  and  forces  of  the  world  over  larger 
areas,  affecting  favorably  many  more  millions  of  people.  The  third 
is  that  which  is  marked  by  the  dissolution  of  the  medieval  system 
and  the  discovery  of  a  new  world,  with  all  its  consequences. 


FINAL  BLOW  TO  MEDIEVALISM. 

The  fighting  has  ceased.  It  will  not  be  resumed  in  the  near  future 
perhaps  on  any  scale  whatever;  and,  if  at  all,  in  restricted  fashion. 
Do  you  realize  what  apparently  has  been  accomplished  or  what  is  in 
sight?  In  general  terms,  the  most  striking  fact  is  the  "giving  of  the 
final  blow  to  medievalism  in  the  world,  revealed  in  the  downfall  of 
arbitrary  power  which  has  sustained  itself  through  an  imposing 
military  array.  It  is  almost  incredible  that  the  Romanoff  dynasty, 
which  a  few  years  ago  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  most  firmly  fixed  facts 
in  the  world,  has  disappeared;  that  the  Hohenzollerns,  in  some 
respects  even  more  firmly  planted,  have  gone;  and  that  the  Hapsburgs 
have  fallen  and,  with  them,  princes  and  potentates  of  varying  degrees. 
Think  of  the  wrong  done  to  France  righted  in  tha  probable  restoration 
of  the  territories  taken  from  her  by  force,  of  a  restored  Polish  state 
which  was  broken  up  by  conspiracy  and  arbitrary  forceful  aggression 
more  than  a  century  ago,  and  of  the  appearance  of  other  unified 
nationalities  based  upon  race,  language,  and  community  of  purpose, 
such  as  the  Czecho-Slovaks  and  the  Southern  Slavs!  Is  it  not  interest- 
ing to  contemplate,  too,  the  possibility  of  the  elimination  of  the  Turks 
and  of  Turkish  rule  from  Europe?  What  appeals  to  the  imagination 
more  strongly  than  the  final  accomplishment  of  what  has  been  sought 
by  crusaders  through  the  ages — the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land  by 
Christendom?  How  impossible  would  it  have  seemed  a  few  short 
years  ago  that  the  allied  nations  of  the  world  would  assent  to  the 
principle  of  dealing  with  peoples  everywhere  on  the  basis  of  the 
interests  of  such  peoples?  And  how  foreign  to  the  thinking  of  the 
Central  Powers  the  thought  that  small  nations  have  as  much  right 
to  exist  as  the  greatest  and  that  it  makes  a  difference  not  so  much 
how  big  a  nation  is  as  what  kind  of  a  nation  it  is?  Who  would  have 
dreamed  that  there  would  be  community  of  purpose  in  the  matter 
of  reducing  armaments  and  of  relieving  the  world,  in  fuller  measure, 
of  the  burdens  of  militarism  and  of  the  effective  development  of  a 
will  to  secure  respect  for  the  common  purpose  of  decent  peoples 
through  association  backed  by  an  adequate  international  police? 
And  above  all  things  do  we  realize  that  we  have  saved  for  the  world 
"the  rule  of  law"  among  nations,  given  international  law  a  new  sanc- 
tion and  validity,  and  made  it  impossible  for  any  arrogant  power 
again  to  regard  such  law  and  treaties  solemnly  entered  into  as  scraps 
of  paper.  Has  not  the  purpose  of  the  nations,  crystallized  in  the 
phrase  of  the  President  "to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy,"  been 
secured? 


NO  JUSTIFICATION  FOR  EXCESSES  HERE. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  parts  of  the  world  have  progressed 
even  beyond  the  rule  of  democracy  and  will  be  committed  to  per- 
versions of  it.  Personally,  I  do  not  fear  that  any  considerable  part 
of  the  world  will  run  to  excess  for  a  very  long  psriod.  I  have  no  great 
fears  as  to  England,  France,  Switzerland,  the  United  States,  or  any 
of  the  other  great  free  nations  of  the  world.  They  are  democratic. 
In  democracies  there  is  no  good  cause  which  can  not  secure  a  hearing 
and,  in  reasonable  time,  get  itself  expressed  through  the  ballot. 
Democracies  are  not  places  where  attempts  of  misguided  minorities 
to  force  their  will  upon  the  majority  by  radical  and  violent  methods 
flourish.  A  minority  has  a  right  fully  to  expose  its  legitimate  purposes 
and  to  try  to  persuade  the  people  to  support  them;  but  if  it  can 
not  do  so,  it  has  no  right  to  resort  to  force.  The  great  majority  of 
the  people  in  this  country  clearly  understand  this.  Unfortunately, 
there  are  a  few,  many  of  them  only  recently  among  us,  who  do  not 
see  this.  They  have  not  caught  thg  meaning,  the  spirit,  and  the  pur- 
pose of  democracy.  They  think  too  exclusively  in  terms  of  some 
other  country  entirely  differently  circumstanced;  and  they  are  con- 
fused by  words.  I  can  understand  how  peoples  who  have  lived  in 
Germany  might  realize  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  extrems  measures 
to  enforce  their  views;  because  there  the  masses  of  the  people  have 
not  been  consulted  in  governmental  matters  affecting  their  lives  and 
fortunes.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  they  might  undertake,  by  using  force 
and  violent  measures,  to  break  down  tyrannical,  dominating  elements 
and  existing  institutions.  Excesses  in  Europe  will  abate  as  real 
democracy  makes  headway.  There  is  no  justification  for  them  here 
and  they  will  not  be  tolerated  by  the  settled  democracy  of  the  other 
free  powers  of  the  world.  I  am  not  afraid  that  the  great  thoughtful 
masses  of  the  American  people  will  be  swept  from  their  moorings  and 
will  abandon  their  standards  and  principles.  Still,  there  is  always 
need  of  vigilance  and  of  clear  thinking.  There  are  those  among  us 
who  are  either  ignorant,  misguided,  or  vicious  who  assiduously  spread 
misinformation;  and,  for  innocent,  selfish,  or  pernicious  reasons, 
arouse,  or  seek  to  stir  up  prejudices  and  unrest. 

The  remedy  is  the  old  remedy  of  education;  and  I  speak  of  these 
things  because  they  indicate  the  great  responsibility  resting  upon 
the  agricultural  press  of  the  Union  and  a  great  duty  and  privilege, 
although  I  recognize  as  clearly  as  you  do  that  you  have  to  deal  with  a 
constituency  as  deeply  grounded  in  the  principles  of  democracy  and 
in  understanding  of  its  essence,  if  not  more  so,  than  any  other  great 
group  in  our  country. 


THE  FOOD  SITUATION. 

Turning  now  more  immediately  to  our  particular  problem,  I  find, 
as  I  have  no  doubt  you  do,  more  than  a  normal  amount  of  interest  in 
the  food  situation  and  much  discussion  of  it.  In  respect  to  this 
matter,  there  is  no  little  confusion  and  misunderstanding.  There  are 
those,  as  I  have  said,  who  are  raising  alarms.  They  have  in  mind  the 
present  condition  of  the  populations  of  Europe ;  and  represent  that,  in 
view  of  the  disturbed  conditions  there,  they  will  not  be  able  to  sustain 
themselves  and  will  take  such  supplies  from  this  country  as  will  make 
it  impossible  for  us  to  supply  our  own  population. 

It  is  highly  important  to  keep  two  things  separate  and  distinct. 
For  a  year  we  shall  be  concerned  primarily  with  available  food  sup- 
plies and  with  domestic  and  foreign  demands  for  them.  The  matter 
of  planting  during  the  ensuing  year  and  of  the  harvests  a  year  from 
now  are  quite  different  things;  and  each  of  the  two  must  receive 
discriminating  consideration. 

FARMERS'  RESPONSE  MAGNIFICENT. 

This  Nation  is,  relatively  speaking,  very  fortunately  circumstanced 
with  respect  to  its  supplies  of  food  and  feedstuffs.  The  farmers  of 
the  country  have  responded  magnificently.  They  have  expanded 
their  operations  not  only  because  of  the  expectation  of  satisfactory 
returns  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  large  demands  and  good  prices, 
but  they  have  also  patriotically  heeded  the  appeals  of  this  Nation 
and  of  the  Allies  for  increased  production.  The  facts  speak  for  them- 
selves. In  spite  of  all  the  difficulties,  of  labor  disturbance  and  con- 
fusion in  every  direction,  the  first  year  of  the  war,  1917,  the  farmers 
planted  23,000,000  acres  more  of  the  leading  food  crops  than  in 
1916  and  32,000,000  more  than  the  five-year  pre-war  average,  and 
produced  record  crops  of  most  products  except  wheat.  Of  course 
you  gentlemen  know  that  the  partial  failure  of  the  wheat  crop  was 
in  no  wise  due  to  lack  of  interest  or  activity  on  the  part  of  the  farmers. 
They  planted  a  large  acreage,  but  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  by 
winter  killing  the  largest  percentage  of  it  ever  recorded.  They  further 
increased  the  acreage  of  the  principal  food  crops  in  1918,  and  indica- 
tions coming  to  the  Department  from  the  various  channels  at  its 
disposal  show  that,  in  response  to  the  suggestions  of  the  Department, 
they  have  enlarged  their  plantings  of  winter  wheat  and  rye  this  fall. 
The  total  production  of  the  leading  cereals  in  1917  and  also  in  1918 
exceeded  that  of  any  preceding  year  in  the  history  of  the  Nation 
except  1915.  While  the  figures  for  1918  show  a  decrease  below  1917 
of  160,000,000  bushels,  it  can  not  be  said  that  the  available  supplies 
for  human  food  or  the  aggregate  nutritive  value  will  be  less  this  year 
than  in  1917.     The  estimated  wheat  crop  for  the  current  year  is 


8 

approximately  919,000,000  bushels,  compared  with  651,000,000  in 
1917  and  636,000,000  in  1916.  The  corn  crop,  although  considerably 
less  than  that  of  last  year,  exceeds  the  five-year  average,  is  above  the 
average  in  quality,  and  is  greatly  superior  to  that  of  1917.  It  has 
been  estimated  that,  of  the  large  crop  of  last  year,  approximately 
900,000,000  bushels  were  soft.  This,  of  course,  was  valuable  as  feed 
for  animals,  but  less  so  than  corn  of  normal  quality.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  on  the  average,  only  about  12  per  cent  of  the  corn 
crop  is  annually  consumed  by  human  beings,  and  that  not  more  than 
26  per  cent  ever  leaves  the  farm.  Furthermore,  the  stocks  of  corn 
on  the  farm  on  November  1  are  considerably  larger  than  those  of 
last  year. 

The  farmers  also  have  been  very  active  in  the  matter  of  live  stock 
production.  They  greatly  increased  the  number  of  all  classes  of  live 
stock  in  191  "7  and  all  indications  point  to  the  fact  that  there  has  been 
a  still  further  increase  during  the  current  year,  although  final  figures 
are  not  yet  available. 

LARGE  DEMAND  FROM  EUROPE. 

Undoubtedly  the  demand  from  Europe  for  available  foodstuffs  until 
the  next  harvest  season  will  be  greater.  England's  food  production 
has  increased  during  the  war,  but  England  still  is,  and  will  continue 
to  be,  an  importer  of  foodstuffs.  France's  production  increased  this 
year  over  last  year,  but  did  not  return  to  normal.  She  will  need 
unusually  large  supplies.  Belgium,  Poland,  Holland,  Norway,  Switzer- 
land and  other  countries  whose  production  has  been  greatly  disturbed, 
or  which  normally  import  foodstuffs,  will  call  upon  us;  and  it  seems 
clear  that  contributions  must  be  made,  in  no  inconsiderable  measure, 
to  the  peoples  of  Austria  and  to  some  extent,  of  Germany.  Even 
our  former  enemies  must  be  considered  if  for  no  higher  motives  than 
those  of  enlightened  selfishness.  The  world  can  not  afford  to  have 
a  prevalence  of  chaos  and  riot  in  any  part  of  it  if  it  can  be  prevented. 
Hungry  people  are  dangerous,  and  reasonable  sustenance  is  a  pre- 
requisite to  the  return  of  normal  conditions  and  the  securing  of 
democratic  institutions.  Unquestionably,  there  are  considerable  sup- 
plies of  foodstuffs  in  parts  of  Germany,  in  Southeastern  Austria,  and 
in  the  Ukraine,  but  the  conditions  are  disturbed  and  especially  the 
means  of  transportation.  The  problem  in  these  countries  primarily 
is  one  of  mobilizing  supplies  and  of  transporting  and  distributing  them. 

DIFFICULT  TO  FORECAST  SITUATION  YEAR  HENCE. 

The  foreign  demand  will  be  for  a  great  variety  of  foods  and  feed- 
stuffs,  but  especially  for  certain  kinds  of  fats.  It  is,  therefore,  highly 
probable  that  prices  for  current  supplies  for  the  harvests  of  this 


9 

year,  both  because  of  large  foreign  needs  and  of  continuing  domestic 
demands,  will  remain  reasonably  high  and  remunerative  to  producers. 
When  we  come  to  consider  the  situation  which  will  prevail  a  year 
from  now  and  what  should  be  done  in  respect  to  further  production, 
particularly  in  planning  planting  operations  for  next  spring,  we 
encounter  more  difficulty  in  making  a  forecast.  There  are  too  many 
unknown  factors.  We  must  remember  that  European  nations  will 
omit  nothing  to  produce  those  things  with  reference  to  which  they 
can  get  a  prompt  response;  that  is,  bread  grains  and  feedstuffs.  If 
conditions  settle  down  and  order  is  restored,  all  pains  will  be  taken 
to  systematize  production  and  to  have  those  countries  become  as 
fully  self-sustaining  as  possible.  Again,  in  all  probability,  restrictions 
on  trade  movement  will  gradually  be  removed  and  ocean  as  well  as 
land  transportation  will  return  to  normal  in  due  course.  They  will 
doubtless  improve  in  the  near  future.  Foreign  nations  will  more  and 
more  look  to  their  former  distant  sources  of  supply.  We  know  that, 
while  the  Argentine  crop  this  year  was  not  as  good  as  it  has  been, 
it  was  reasonably  large.  Argentina  also  had  a  surplus.  The  Aus- 
tralian crop  was  satisfactory  and  there,  too,  were  considerable  surplus 
stores.  Algeria,  I  am  told,  has  a  25,000,000-bushel  exportable  surplus  of 
wheat.  We  have  witnessed  in  this  country,  as  I  have  said,  a  record 
fall  planting  of  wheat  and  the  sowing  of  a  large  area  of  rye.  We  do 
not  know  how  these  crops  will  come  through  the  winter.  If  the  con- 
dition should  be  favorable,  we  shall,  of  course,  realize  an  unusual 
harvest.  We  shall  not  have  available  until  after  the  beginning  of 
the  new  year  the  estimates  of  live  stock  in  this  Nation. 

TOO  EARLY  TO  SUGGEST  SPRING  PROGRAM. 

It  is  clearly,  therefore,  too  early  to  make  detailed  suggestions  for 
the  spring  planting,  and  I  know  of  no  one  who  is  wise  enough  to  say 
what  the  supply  and  demand  will  be  and  the  prices  which  will  prevail 
a  year  from  now.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  agricul- 
tural colleges  and  other  organizations  will  continue  to  study  the 
situation,  keep  close  track  of  developments  and,  at  the  proper  time, 
in  advance  of  the  next  planting  season,  will  be  in  a  position  to  offer 
suggestions.  In  the  meantime,  we  must  not  fail  to  adopt  every  feasi- 
ble means  of  relieving  the  farmers  of  economic  burdens.  We  are  taking 
active  steps  to  perfect  the  local  organizations  cooperating  with  the 
Federal  and  State  agencies,  so  that  we  may  more  effectively  execute 
any  well  considered  plan  that  later  may  be  devised. 


10 
DEMOBILIZATION  OF  ARMY. 

Much  interest  naturally  attaches  itself,  now  that  fighting  has 
ceased,  to  the  matter  of  reconstruction  or  readjustment  of  industry 
and  of  agriculture.  This  involves,  of  course,  the  demobilization  of 
the  Army  and  the  return  not  only  of  millions  of  men  from  military 
life  to  their  former  civilian  pursuits,  but  also  the  release  of  a  great 
number  of  laborers  from  industrial  establishments  which  were  greatly 
expanded  to  meet  special  war  requirements.  The  process  of  demo- 
bilization is  under  way.  Plans  are  on  foot  to  vacate  the  camps  in 
this  country  and  to  send  back  within  a  very  few  days  a  quarter  of  a 
million  men.  I  can  not  speak  officially  as  to  the  time  or  method  of 
withdrawing  men  from  France.  How  many  men  we  shall  have  to  keep 
there  for  a  considerable  period,  I  do  not  know.  The  war  is  not  yet 
over.  We  are  still  in  a  state  of  war.  We  shall  have  to  assist  in  the 
military  occupation  of  German  territory.  Even  if  there  were  no  work 
for  any  part  of  the  Army  in  France,  we  probably  could  not  get  all 
our  men  back,  under  the  most  favorable  transportation  conditions,  in 
much  less  than  a  year.  We  must  expect  that  they  will  be  returned 
by  installments.  Naturally  those  outside  of  the  regular  Army  who 
have  been  abroad  longest  will  be  brought  back  fust.  This,  I  assume, 
will  be  the  guiding  principle.  It  would  be  impossible  to  act  exclu- 
sively on  the  principle  of  returning  men  by  occupations.  Such  a 
plan  would  disrupt  the  Army  units,  but,  within  all  possible  limitations, 
in  withdrawing  men  due  regard  will  be  had  to  essential  occupations, 
including  agriculture. 

OPPORTUNITIES  MUST  BE  GIVEN  RETURNING  SOLDIERS. 

What  shall  we  do  with  the  men  when  they  return  from  France 
and  what  will  become  of  those  engaged  in  specialized  war  industries? 
Is  it  likely  that  we  shall  have  to  be  concerned  with  the  larger  per- 
centage of  our  boys?  Will  not  those  who  have  come  from  the  farms, 
who  own  farms,  or  who  lived  on  their  father's  farms,  as  a  rule,  return 
to  them  as  quickly  as  possible?  Certainly  the  farms  need  them. 
Many  others  have  professions,  trades,  or  occupations  awaiting  them. 
The  experience  of  some  of  the  nations  to  date,  especially  Canada, 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  greater  percentage  of  the  returning 
men  will  not  call  for  special  action  on  the  part  of  the  Government. 
Canada  has  been  in  the  war  nearly  five  years.  Many  men  have 
returned  who  could  not  be  sent  back  to  the  Army.  A  Canadian 
official  recently  told  me  that  90  per  cent  of  the  returning  men  did 
not  wish  to  be  bothered  and  that  they  had  to  interest  themselves, 
therefore,  in  only  approximately  10  per  cent.  However,  no  one  will 
hesitate  to  say  that  every  consideration  must  be  given  to  returning 
soldiers  who  have  no  places  waiting  for  them  and  who  will  be  seeking 


11 

new  tasks.  They  deserve  well  of  the  Republic,  and  those  who  wish 
to  go  into  farming,  who  have  had  any  experience  which  would  make 
such  an  occupation  probably  profitable  for  them,  must  be  furnished 
every  opportunity.  The  Nation  and  the  states  will  unquestionably 
come  to  their  assistance  and  every  feasible  thing  will  be  done  to  secure 
for  them  the  opportunities  they  seek  somewhere  in  industry  or  in 
agriculture. 

STILL  PIONEERING  THE  COUNTRY. 

Of  course,  this  country  is  not  yet  filled  up.  In  a  sense,  we  are  still 
pioneering  it.  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  1,140,000,000  acres  of 
tillable  land  in  the  United  States  and  that  only  367,000,000  acres  are 
actually  in  cultivation.  Of  course,  much  of  the  best  land,  especially 
that  most  easily  brought  under  cultivation  and  in  reasonably  easy 
reach  of  large  consuming  centers,  is  in  use,  though  much  of  it,  possibly 
85  per  cent,  is  not  yielding  full  returns.  Extension  of  the  farmed 
area  will  consequently  be  made  with  greater  expense  for  clearing, 
preparation,  drainage,  and  irrigation,  and  for  profitable  operation  will 
involve  marketing  arrangements  of  a  high  degree  of  perfection  and  the 
discriminating  selection  of  crops  having  a  relatively  high  unit  value. 

We  must  consider  this  whole  question  in  the  light  of  tha  recent  past 
and  of  the  probable  future  developments.  Many  people  think  too 
much  in  terms  of  today.  How  many  of  you  realize  that  this  Nation, 
in  the  15  years  from  1900  to  1915,  gained  a  population  of  22,000,000, 
nearly  three-fifths  that  of  the  Republic  of  France,  a  Nation  with 
producing  and  consuming  power  probably  greater  than  that  of  any 
South  American  country.  It  is  estimated,  also,  that  since  the  Euro- 
pean war  broke  out  our  population  has  further  increased  nearly 
3,250,000,  largely  through  natural  growth.  We  have  taken  care  of 
this  population.  Those  who  have  wished  to  farm  have  found  places. 
Doubtless  we  shall  gain  15,000,000  or  20,000,000  in  the  next  fifteen 
years,  and  these,  too,  we  shall  take  care  of.  These,  too,  will  benefit 
from  agencies  working  for  the  betterment  of  rural  life  which,  in  point 
of  scope,  personnel,  financial  support  and  effectiveness,  excel  those 
of  any  three  nations  in  the  world  combined.  It  is  an  urgent  duty  of 
all  these  agencies  to  assist  those  who  are  entering  upon  agriculture 
for  the  first  time. 

PROBLEM  ONE  OF  EMPHASIS  AND  SELECTION. 

What  else  stands  out  for  consideration  in  the  field  of  readjustment? 
I  am  now  thinking,  of  course,  of  agriculture.  Is  it  likely  that  many  highly 
promising,  novel,  and  original  things  can  be  suggested  and  put  into 
practice?  Agriculture  probably  was  the  best  prepared  interest  in  the 
Nation  when  the  war  came  on.  Through  wise  provision  the  country 
had   secured  an  organization  which  was  ready  to  function  in   all 


12 

directions.  The  problem  was  one  of  emphasis  and  selection  rather 
than  one  of  new  departure.  And  for  the  future,  is  it  not  likely  that 
it  will  continue  to  be  one  of  emphasis  and  selection  rather  than  of 
novel  enterprises?  I  have  sought  light  on  this  problem  from  many 
sources.  I  have  asked  for  suggestions  in  many  directions  and,  for 
the  most  part,  all  that  I  have  received  to  date  confirm  the  view  that 
we  shall  continue  the  process  of  selection  and  emphasis  rather  than 
attempt  novel  things. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  LEGISLATION  IN  LAST  FIVE  YEARS. 

The  last  five  years  were  especially  fruitful  of  legislation  helpful  to 
agriculture.  The  first  striking  achievement  was  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  Reserve  Act  and  the  organization  of  the  system.  Anything 
that  improv3s  the  finances  of  the  Nation,  that  makes  them  sound 
and  enduring,  helps  every  citizen.  It  seems  providential  that  the 
Reserve  system  should  have  been  inaugurated  before  the  breaking 
out  of  the  European  war.  This  war  involved  financial  burdens  and 
strains  such  as  no  economist  imagined  any  country  could  stand;  and 
yet  this  Nation  has,  by  reason  of  the  operations  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board  and  of  the  reserve  banks,  proceeded  in  orderly  fashion  with 
its  finances.  It  has  met  its  own  needs  and  has  come  to  the  rescue 
of  the  countries  with  which  we  are  associated.  In  no  former  period, 
either  of  war  or  of  peace,  were  we  able  to  weather  any  considerable 
financial  storm.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  our  finances  were 
chaotic.  We  promptly  suspended  specie  payments  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war  of  1812,  and  also  when  our  Civil  War  came  on.  During 
the  period  of  expansion  in  the  '30s,  we  suspended  specie  payments 
and  did  not  resume  them  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1873,  by  reason 
of  the  over-trading  following  the  Civil  War,  we  had  a  suspension 
within  a  suspension.  Twenty  years  later  we  were  in  trouble  again, 
and  in  1907  we  had  difficulties  of  a  special  and  peculiar  nature.  What 
would  have  been  the  course  of  things  if  we  had  been  less  fortunately 
situated  in  this  war  no  human  being  can  tell. 

The  Federal  Reserve  Act  not  only  enabled  us  to  sustain  our  whole 
financial  structure  and  to  permit  all  industries  to  survive  the  financial 
crisis,  but  it  took  special  note  of  the  farmers'  needs.  It  permitted 
national  banks  to  lend  on  real  estate  and  gave  to  farm  paper  a  matur- 
ing period  of  six  months.  Later  came  the  Farm  Loan  Act,with  whose 
terms  and  operations  you  are  familiar.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
this  measure  was  passed  and  the  system  put  into  operation  in  a  time 
of  great  stress,  it  has  made  marked  headway  and  furnished  great 
relief.  Other  measures,  well  known  to  you,  are  the  cooperative  Agri- 
cultural Extension  Act,  the  Federal  Aid  Road  Act,  and  the  Grain 
Standards,  Cotton  Futures,  and  Warehouse  Acts.     I  might  add  to 


13 

this  list  the  provision  creating  a  Bureau  of  Markets,  under  which  has 
been  developed  the  most  effective  organization  of  its  kind  in  the 
world,  with  available  funds  this  year  of  $4,000,000  or  $5,000,003. 
The  Bureau  is  rendering  valuable  service  to  agriculture  in  very  many 
directions.  Particularly  significant  and  helpful  are  its  Market  News 
Services,  which  are  furnishing  information  of  great  value  daily  to 
producers  throughout  the  Union  and  have,  in  some  sections,  con- 
verted hazardous  agricultural  enterprises  into  successful  businesses. 

RESUMPTION  AND  EXTENSION  OF  HIGHWAY  CONSTRUCTION. 

There  remain  other  things  to  do.  I  can  only  sketch  them.  We 
must  resume  as  quickly  as  possible,  in  full  measure,  the  operations 
under  the  Federal  Aid  Road  Act.  You  understand  why  they  had  to  be 
contracted  during  the  war.  It  is  highly  important  that  they  be 
resumed.  I  need  not  emphasize  before  you  the  fact  that  good  roads 
are  prerequisite  for  better  agriculture,  for  orderly  distribution,  and 
for  a  healthful  and  attractive  country  life.  From  unexpended  balances 
of  Federal  appropriations  for  the  last  few  years,  from  State  funds 
beyond  what  was  necessary  to  meet  the  Federal  allotments,  and  from 
amounts  available  during  the  current  fiscal  year,  we  shall  have  for 
expenditure  during  the  calendar  year  approximately  $75,000,000. 
Next  year,  if  all  the  balances  should  be  expended  during  this  year 
and  we  should  have  to  rely  solely  on  the  funds  accruing  next  year,  we 
shall  have  from  Federal  appropriations  about  $20,000,000  and  proba- 
bly more  than  this  amount  from  state  sources.  The  states,  in  addi- 
tion, will  expend  sums  in  excess  of  what  they  have  assigned,  or  will 
assign,  for  Federal  aid  road  projects.  Still,  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
should  take  a  further  step — take  this  step  not  only  because  of  the 
importance  of  good  roads,  but  also  because  of  the  desirability  of 
furnishing  worthy  projects  on  which  unemployed  labor  during  the 
period  of  readjustment  may  be  engaged.  There  will  be  many  things 
suggested  for  which  Federal  and  state  funds  will  be  sought.  Some 
of  these  will  be  unworthy.  Clearly  such  public  works  as  roads  are 
worthy,  and  it  would  be  in  the  public  interest  to  make  available  larger 
appropriations  from  the  Federal  treasury,  to  be  used  separately  or  in 
conjunction  with  State  and  local  support. 

NECESSARY  MACHINERY  ALREADY  EXISTS. 

There  need  be  no  delay  in  the  executiDn  of  such  a  program.  The 
Nation  has  already  provided  the  machinery  in  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  and  in  the  state  highway  commissions.  The  Federal  Aid 
Road  Act  was  fruitful  of  good  legislation  and  each  state  in  the  Union 
now  has  a  central  highway  authority  with  power  and  funds  to  meet 
the  terms  of  the  Federal  Act.     The  two  agencies,  in  conjunction, 


14 

have  been  engaged  in  devising  well-considered  road  systems  and  in 
making  surveys,  plans,  and  specifications.  The  task  will  be  one  of 
selection  and  those  roads  should  be  designated  for  improvement 
which  are  of  the  greatest  economic  importance,  with  due  regard  to 
such  military  and  other  needs  as  are  proper  for  consideration.  There 
is  no  necessity  for  any  departure  from  this  scheme.  The  suggestions 
made  have  been  canvassed  with  the  President,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  the  Postmaster-General,  and  they  are  in  accord  with  the 
view  that  additional  funds  should  be  made  available  to  this  Depart- 
ment and  that  they  should  be  expended  through  existing  machinery. 

PERSONAL  CREDIT  UNIONS. 

Another  task  remaining  in  the  field  of  finance  is  to  provide  a  proper 
system  of  personal  credit  unions,  especially  for  the  benefit  of  indi- 
viduals whose  financial  circumstances  and  scale  of  operations  make 
it  difficult  for  them  to  secure  accommodations  through  ordinary 
channels.  I  am  not  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  banks  now  make  short 
term  loans  of  a  great  aggregate  value  to  farmers  possessing  commer- 
cial credit,  but  there  are  those  who  can  not  easily  avail  themselves 
of  the  facilities  they  offer.  This  would  appear  to  be  a  matter  primarily 
for  state  consideration  and  state  action.  Such  course  has  been 
approved  by  many  of  the  best  economists  and  seems  to  have  been 
that  sanctioned  by  the  Joint  Committee  of  Congress.  The  Depart- 
ment has  formulated  a  tentative  model  law  for  personal  credit  unions 
and  is  ready  to  place  itself  at  the  service  of  any  state  which  is  ready 
to  undertake  legislation  in  this  field.  A  number  of  states  already 
have  adopted  laws  for  personal  credits.  In  most  cases,  however,  the 
associations  formed  under  them  are  composed  of  urban  workers. 
The  North  Carolina  law  apparently  has  had  more  fruitful  results  in 
respect  to  rural  associations.  This  is  due,  in  no  small  measure,  to 
the  provision  made  for  educational  activity. 

The  foundation  for  effective  work  in  this  field  is  the  promotion  of 
cooperative  associations  among  farmers  in  general — associations  of 
people  who  have  a  very  definite  difficulty  to  overcome.  This  Depart- 
ment has  labored  steadily  to  advance  this  movement  and  will  continue 
its  efforts  to  the  limit  of  its  powers  and  available  funds. 

LAND  SETTLEMENT. 

I  have  already  directed  attention  to  a  phase  of  the  problem  of 
land  settlement.  I  have  pointed  out  that  we  are  still,  in  a  measure, 
pioneering  the  country  and  that  we  shall  be  called  upon  to  take  care 
of  many  more  millions  of  people.  Of  course,  we  cannot  induce  people 
to  stay  in  the  country  districts  or  to  take  up  farming  unless  we  make 
rural   life   profitable,   healthful,    and   attractive.      Farmers   can  not 


15 

produce  merely  for  the  love  of  it.  They  must  consider  their  bank 
balance  just  as  other  business  men  do.  In  the  long  run,  as  many 
people  will  engage  in  farming  as  are  necessary  to  produce  the  sup- 
plies needed  by  society  and  taken  by  society  at  a  price  which  will 
justify  the  operation.  Farming  must  pay  and  that  is  a  prerequisite 
to  its  extension.  The  task  of  the  organized  agricultural  agencies  of 
all  sorts  is  to  improve  rural  life  so  that  it  will  be  profitable  to  the 
present  farmers  and  attractive  to  those  seeking  new  enterprises. 
They  must  omit  nothing  to  improve  processes,  to  promote  economies, 
and  therefore  to  relieve  farmers  of  economic  burdens  in  production, 
to  control  and  eradicate  animal  and  plant  diseases  and  insect  pests, 
and  to  better  distribution  and  marketing. 

It  would  be  desirable  to  facilitate  land  settlement  in  more  system- 
atic fashion.  This  has  too  long  been  left  to  the  haphazard  intervention 
of  private  enterprises,  and  the  Nation  has  suffered  not  a  little  from 
irresponsible  private  direction.  I  think  it  is  high  time  for  the  Federal 
and  state  governments  both,  as  well  as  local  communities,  to  seek 
to  aid  in  land  settlement  by  furnishing  actual  facts,  reliable  informa- 
tion, and  agricultural  guidance  to  beginning  farmers  and  to  promote 
well-considered  settlement  plans. 

OWNERSHIP  OF  FARMS  SHOULD  BE  ENCOURAGED. 

It  is  particularly  vital  that  the  process  of  acquiring  ownership  of 
farms  be  encouraged  and  hastened.  This  is  now  the  process.  Tenancy 
has  its  dark  sides,  but  it  also  has  its  bright  sides.  In  no  inconsiderable 
measure,  it  is  a  step  towards  ownership.  It  is  a  stage  through  which 
many  of  our  owners  have  passed  and  are  passing.  It  is  a  stage  at 
which  the  young  farmer,  in  many  instances,  begins  his  career.  The 
statistics  indicate  that  76  per  cent  of  farmers  under  25  years  of  age 
and  that  only  about  20  per  cent  of  those  over  55  are  tenants.  With 
few  exceptions,  in  the  older  sections  of  the  Union  owning  farmers 
form  the  largest  percentage  of  the  farming  population.  Characteristic 
exceptions  are  found  in  such  states  as  Illinois,  where,  for  peculiar 
reasons,  a  high  degree  of  tenancy  and  of  absentee  ownership  exists. 
On  the  whole,  the  conditions  do  not  furnish  ground  for  pessimism. 
Still,  it  is  incumbent  on  us  to  take  every  feasible  means  of  expediting 
the  process  from  tenancy  to  ownership.  A  helpful  influence  in  this 
direction  is  the  farm  loan  system  and  especially  its  practice  of  having 
vendors  of  land  take  second  mortgages  subordinate  to  the  first  mort- 
gage of  the  land  bank,  enabling  the  farmer  to  secure  a  better  rate  of 
interest  and  to  make  payments  over  a  long  term  of  years.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  development  of  the  principle  of  cooperation,  especially 
in  respect  to  personal  credit  unions,  would  be  a  further  step  for 
hastening  this  process.     In  the  meantime,  let  us  study  carefully  the 


16 

terms  of  tenancy  with  a  view  to  secure  to  the  tenant  such  interest  as 
will  permit  soil  development  and  assure  to  him  a  reasonable  share  of 
the  returns. 

STOCK  YARDS  AND  PACKING  HOUSES. 

The  matter  of  the  supervision  of  stock  yards  and  packing  houses 
presents  a  problem  about  which  there  has  been  much  discussion. 
The  restoration  and  maintenance  of  conditions  which  will  justify 
confidence  in  the  live  stock  markets  and  the  meat  packing  industry 
is  the  greatest  single  need  in  the  present  meat  situation  in  the  United 
States.  As  you  know,  the  Department,  at  the  direction  of  the  Presi- 
dent, is  now  administering  under  license  the  control  of  the  stock 
yards  and  related  industries.  The  important  results  already  accom- 
plished under  this  authority  clearly  demonstrate  its  usefulness  and 
emphasize  the  desirability  of  continuing  it  or  some  other  adequate 
form  of  supervision. 

The  question  also  of  exercising  similar  authority  over  the  slaughter- 
ing, meat  packing  and  related  interests  is  one  for  serious  consideration. 
The  Food  Administration  has  placed  limitations  on  profits  on  meat 
and  by-products  handled  by  these  establishments  and  has  required 
the  installation  of  uniform  accounting  systems.  In  this  way  the 
centralization  of  control  by  a  small  group  of  packers  has  been  materi- 
ally checked.  The  economic  welfare  of  meat  production  and  distri- 
bution would  be  promoted  by  the  continuation  and  development  in 
some  form  of  the  supervision  over  the  packing  industry.  Such  con- 
trol, of  course,  should  be  closely  coordinated  with  that  of  the  live 
stock  markets,  and  there  should  also  be  established  a  central  office 
to  which  packing  concerns  should  be  required  to  report  currently  in 
such  form  and  detail  that  it  would  be  constantly  informed  concerning 
their  operations.  The  necessary  legislation  should  be  enacted  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment. 

The  situation  apparently  requires  three  remedies,  namely,  regula- 
tion, information,  and  voluntary  cooperation.  Federal  regulation, 
organized  and  administered  as  indicated  and  exercised  in  close  har- 
mony with  the  regulatory  bodies  of  the  various  states,  is  the  most 
essential  feature.  Constant  publicity,  under  Government  direction,  of 
current  market  prices,  supplies,  movement,  and  other  conditions  per- 
taining to  the  marketing  of  live  stock,  meats  and  animal  by-products 
would  materially  increase  its  effectiveness.  It  would  also  be  a  means 
of  stabilizing  the  marketing  of  live  stock  and  its  products  and  of 
making  available  the  information  required  by  producers  and  dis- 
tributors in  the  marketing  of  their  products.  A  beginning  already 
has  been  made  in  the  creation  of  machinery  for  such  service  at  market 
centers  and  legislative  authority  for  its  further  development  should 
be  continued  and  extended.     Furthermore,   better  organization  of 


17 

live  stock  producers  and  closer  cooperation  between  their  organiza- 
tions and  those  representing  the  different  classes  of  intermediaries, 
working  in  harmony  with  appropriate  Government  agencies,  would 
also  add  to  the  effectiveness  of  regulation  and  would  be  beneficial 
to  the  packers  and  distributors  as  well  as  to  the  producers  and 
consumers. 

FEDERAL  FEED  AND  FERTILIZER  LAWS. 

Some  complaints  have  reached  the  Department  recently  regarding 
commercial  feedstuff's.  We  have  been  studying  the  situation  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  a  comprehensive 
Federal  feed  law  placed  upon  the  statute  books.  At  present,  in 
order  to  secure  for  the  public  the  benefits  of  the  provisions  of  the 
Federal  Food  and  Drugs  Act  with  reference  to  animal  feeds,  it  is 
necessary  to  rely  on  the  appropriate  statutes  of  the  different  states. 
These  are  not  uniform  and  there  are  a  few  states  which  have  no 
laws  that  can  be  invoked.  Under  a  Federal  law,  framed  along  right 
lines,  it  should  be  possible  for  the  Government  to  proceed  in  a  uniform 
manner  and  to  secure  to  consumers  protection  against  misbranded, 
adulterated,  and  worthless  feeds  entering  into  interstate  commerce. 
Similar  legislation  with  reference  to  fertilizers  passing  into  interstate 
commerce  probably  would  be  feasible  and  valuable.  At  the  same 
time,  it  would  be  wise  to  make  provision  for  securing  comprehensive 
and  reliable  information  regarding  commercial  fertilizers.  I  am  con- 
vinced that  there  is  much  indiscriminate  use  of  them  at  present  and, 
therefore,  much  waste  of  money.  This  arises  from  the  lack  of  avail- 
able, satisfactory  data.  As  the  matter  is  one  of  importance  to  the 
whole  Union,  I  believe  the  Department  should  participate  in  the 
work  and  that  the  requisite  funds  should  be  provided  for  cooperative 
experiments  with  State  institutions. 

CONTINUATION  OF  EMERGENCY  ACTIVITIES. 

Under  the  Food  Production  Act  of  August  10,  1917,  the  activities 
of  the  Department  have  been  expanded  in  many  directions.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  the  extension  forces,  including  the  county  agents, 
the  work  relating  to  the  control  and  eradication  of  animal  diseases, 
and  the  market  news  services.  That  the  efforts  of  the  Department 
in  emergency  directions  have  produced  valuable  results  is  indicated 
by  expressions  coming  from  all  sections  of  the  Union.  If  the  finances 
of  the  Nation  permit  it,  it  seems  clear  that  adequate  provision  should 
be  made  for  the  continuance  of  at  least  a  part  of  the  work  after 
the  end  of  the  present  fiscal  year.  I  have  already  transferred  to  the 
regular  bill  the  estimates  for  some  of  the  emergency  work  of  the 
Bureau  of  Markets.  It  would  also  be  wise,  I  think,  to  anticipate  the 
amount  that  will  accrue  under  the  Agricultural  Extension  Act  when 


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it  reaches  its  full  development  in  1922  and  to  make  such  further 
provision  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  continuance  of  agents  of  proved 
efficiency  already  on  the  rolls,  as  well  as  to  continue  the  intensive 
work  for  the  more  speedy  control  and  eradication  of  tuberculosis,  hog 
cholera,  and  the  cattle  tick,  and  other  important  lines  of  work. 
Expenditures  for  these  activities  are  investments. 

RURAL  HEALTH  AND  SANITATION. 

The  question  of  rural  health  and  sanitation  is  one  to  which  I  have 
given  a  great  deal  of  thought.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  should  omit 
no  effort  to  see  to  it  that  the  benefits  of  modern  medicine  accrue 
more  largely  to  the  scattered  populations  of  the  rural  districts.  The 
economic  waste  from  insanitary  health  surroundings  and  from  disease 
is  enormous.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  its  extent.  It  is  even 
more  impossible  to  assess  the  amount  of  existing,  preventable  human 
misery  and  unhappiness.  The  remedy  is  difficult.  Many  agencies, 
including  some  private  enterprises,  are  working  for  improvement, 
and  states  and  medical  societies  are  contributing.  The  extension  and 
improvement  of  agriculture,  including  the  drainage  of  lands,  the 
clearing  of  swamps,  and  the  construction  of  good  roads,  make  for 
betterment.  The  Department  of  Agriculture,  through  its  home 
demonstration  service,  is  giving  valuable  aid  and  the  public  health 
service  is  increasingly  extending  its  functions.  A  vast  deal,  however, 
remains  to  be  done  to  control  such  pests  as  mosquitoes  and  the  hook- 
worm, to  eliminate  the  sources  of  typhoid  fever,  and,  even  more,  to 
give  the  country  districts  advantages  of  modern  hospitals,  nursing, 
and  specialized  medical  practice.  To  what  extent  the  further  pro- 
jection of  effort  is  a  matter  for  state  or  local  action  remains  to  be 
determined,  but  it  seems  clear  that  there  should  be  no  cessation  of 
activity  until  there  has  been  completed,  in  every  community  of  the 
Union,  an  effective  sanitary  survey  and,  through  the  provision  of 
adequate  machinery,  steps  taken  to  control  and  eliminate  the  sources 
of  disease  and  to  provide  the  necessary  modern  medical  and  dental 
facilities  easily  accessible  to  the  mass  of  the  people. 

FARM  ECONOMICS  AND  FARM  MANAGEMENT. 

I  have  also  been  keenly  interested  all  my  life  in  the  economics  of 
agriculture,  and  I  have  therefore  not  only  emphasized  in  my  mind 
the  necessity  for  developing  a  strong  and  effective  Bureau  of  Markets, 
but  also  an  organization  here  for  the  satisfactory  study  of  the  difficult 
problems  of  farm  economics  and  farm  management.  I  have  by  no 
means  been  satisfied  with  some  of  the  work  of  the  present  Office  of 
Farm  Management.  I  refer  especially  to  the  studies  of  the  cost  of 
farm  crops.     It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  point  out  the  difficulties  of 


19 

securing  accurate  statistics  on  the  cost  of  producing  an  agricultural 
commodity.  Corn,  for  instance,  is  produced  by  perhaps  6,000,000 
farmers  over  a  continental  area.  It  is  difficult  enough  to  acsertain 
the  cost  of  producing  corn  on  a  single  farm  where  there  are  complex 
operations.  It  is  equally  difficult  to  secure  averages  in  a  given  area 
that  are  helpful  guides.  It  is  even  more  difficult  where  a  tenant  is 
involved.  Still,  averages  are  the  best  that  we  can  get.  A  prerequisite, 
however,  is  that  they  shall  be  based  on  actual  and  distinct  studies  on 
many  individual  farms  and  that  the  facts  shall  be  tabulated,  carefully 
interpreted,  and  set  out  under  the  proper  limitations.  This  is  not 
true  with  reference  to  the  studies  recently  much  discussed.  Com- 
petent, impartial  economists  and  students  of  the  subject,  after  careful 
investigation,  reported  that  the  studies  were  little  more  than  expres- 
sions of  opinion  based  on  impressions  received  from  conversations 
with  farmers,  that  the  interpretations  and  expositions  were  highly 
unsatisfactory,  and  that  the  conculsions  as  given  were  misleading. 

I  have  the  whole  problem  actively  in  mind.  I  am  calling  into 
conference  the  best  students  of  farm  economics  in  the  Nation,  includ- 
ing the  heads  of  state  farm  management  departments,  some  of  which 
have  developed  programs  superior  to  parts  of  ours,  and  I  shall  hope, 
at  the  proper  time,  to  lay  before  Congress  a  carefully  considered 
series  of  projects  for  an  enlarged  Office  of  Farm  Management.  I  shall 
ask  for  sufficient  authority  and  funds  to  secure  the  services  of  the 
best  staff  available  and  shall  plan  to  work  in  close  cooperation  with 
well-equipped  departments  in  state  colleges  and  universities.  It  is 
my  hope  that  the  Nation  shall  not  again  be  caught  without  adequate 
and  reliable  cost  of  production  data  as  a  basis  for  its  thinking  and 
acting.  Of  course,  I  realize  that  farm  management  is  much  more 
than  mere  studies  of  costs.  It  involves  land  settlement,  studies  of 
ownership  and  tenancy,  of  the  relation  of  crops,  of  domestic  and 
foreign  supplies  in  relation  to  domestic  and  foreign  demand,  and 
many  other  things. 

I  have  in  mind,  I  trust,  not  only  further  concrete  principles  for 
the  improvement  of  the  agriculture  and  rural  life  of  the  Nation,  but 
a  vision  of  rural  life  towards  the  realization  of  which  I  hope  to  see 
the  Department,  the  colleges,  agricultural  organizations,  farm  papers, 
and  all  other  agencies  in  the  country  steadily  work. 


... 

I 

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